War of the Dead

Dead

Day “Z’ aboard the merc ship “Bitten”, I finally have a moment to put my thoughts to paper as who knows how much longer we can stay alive. All hell has broken loose, people are eating people, dead people are standing back up, and those that should be dead just don’t seem to die!
Ill begin on our last day aboard the Pinnacle, Stuffed into the theatre hall with the rest of the “survivors” we decided it was time to get some answers. A small group of us set off to find this Forthington character who supposedly owns the boat and had these “merc’s” who are now helping us sabotage the damn thing. When we find the quarters of this MAN’s man he is hiding in a corner and practically kills one of group. Now let me take a moment and note that while it would be bad to loose a group member this particular one was already bitten and probably going to take a bullet sooner or later anyways. After we secure the cabin and blow the head off his crazed bitter whore, we find out he is just scum, bottom of the barrel kind and ultimately worthless to us. Noble boy boat sheriff makes us take him with us instead of leaving him that’s the beginning of the end of turns out to be one big nightmare.
When we return to the Theatre some preacher gal had taken control, disarmed the mercenaries and tied them up, she also stirred the rest of the survivors into some wild crazy rage, what happens next I cannot begin to describe in detail, but explosions went off, I was rushed by a crowd and I too threw some grenades, if they are willing to kill other survivors and me then they can go to hell! After the dust cleared all that was left running was myself, the good doctor, sheriff good two shoes and the mercs.
We hole up in a room where the mercs meet up with another group of there boys, and then BOOM, they blow away the security officer, we talk them down from shooting us just as a coast guard boat crashes into the side of the cruise ship, the itchy trigger fingers on the mercs start going off and me and the good Doctor make a break for it. The Cruise ship is sinking now, we have been double crossed by a bunch of money hungry mercenaries and our only way out is the mercs boat some 3 stories down the side of the ship that is crawling with mindless things wanting to eat us. We decide to make a break for the boat and deal with the mercs at that point, try and talk them down first and shoot second I think was the plan .
We get our plan set and start looking for a good way to even get to the boat, and then the Doctor goes and hauls off the side of the boat straight down to the water, I figure he is dead from this height and go to at least see what happened, and holy crap the bastard lived! Off the side of the boat I follow, and then it was all black….
When I wake up im on the skiff with the Doc, and we are out to sea. Turns out he saved me, killed some more of the crazed things and now we are hoping to not die…..UPDATE, well we have been out at sea now for what feel like forever, I have befriended a seagull, im calling him Scuttle, he comes in for the scraps of our rations and we have been using him as our arrow to point us towards what we hope will be not only land but home….if there is a home left. Doc says this could be a pandemic and that we might not be out of danger just yet, I sure hope he is wrong, that or well we die out here and the rest wont matter. If there is any ink left in this pen ill write again when something changes, if no entry follows this you can guess what happened.
Land! We can see land! Scuttle saved us! Its in the distance but its Land we are going to live! Ill keep this journal to account for more, but that’s all I can write for now, too hungry, too tired, and now, finally too excited to pen more!

As we know it!

And so it has begun. We all knew it or something like it would happen someday. The dead are coming back to life. Not only to haunt us but to feed on us.

A relaxing cruise gone wrong. The right place or the wrong time, who’s to say? All that you know is people aboard the Pinnacle cruise ship have gone mad. What began as an isolated incident has become a disaster with your very lives and the lives of those you love on the line. As your group attempts to assist the senior security officer you wonder if it is worth it. A mercenary group has destroyed the bridge and was under orders to scuttle the ship. These same mercenaries work along side you now in an effort to survive. No solid plan of escape off of the derelict ship has been thought of and you begin to question the leadership of Jason Kirkman the head of security. Time is not on your side as more and more of the ships passengers succumb to the groping, biting mouths of the dead. In an effort to save people Kirkman has had them make their way to the large auditorium at the front of the ship. While more and more passengers filter in your group has decided to attempt to find the one man who might have some answers as well as a way off this ship. With all the regular lines of communication off line, the group hopes that the satellite phone of Mr Forthington will allow them to communicate with the outside world and request help. The group wants more than his phone however, they want answers. Forthington is the one who hired the mercenaries to scuttle his ship and your group would like to know why.

Unfortunately, your group has suffered some casualties. The old man, what was his name? Anyway he died right away trying to save the rest of the group. While commendable it may not matter in the long run. Life is tenuous now and to further add to the tension, one of your own group has been bitten. Although no one has the balls to mention it, it is on everyone’s mind. Everyone that has been bitten so far has turned into one of those mindless flesh eaters. The question some of you ponder is whether or not to put him down before he turns or wait until he kills someone, possibly yourself. Of course there is his family to think of. Best not to think of that now however. Focus on getting to Forthington’s and finding away off of this ship. It’s hard not to think of being bitten however or those who have been bitten.

After arriving to Forthington’s room the group is set upon by the frightened man. After Forthington tries to shoot one of the party that discovers him cowering in his guestroom, Brett takes it into his hands to question the man. As Brett slaps Forthington to the point of seeing the grown man cry, it is discovered Forthington has planned to destroy the ship as part of a scheme to gain insurance money and lessen his debts.
The party finds a sat phone stowed in Forthington’s possesions. After a brief scene with Forthington’s love having her grey matter splattered in the bathroom, the phone is used in an attempt to contact help.
The problem, no one is answering any of the phones. Maybe this infection isn’t limited to the ship, maybe it is a pandemic. The group races back to the auditorium, picking up stragglers on the way.
When reaching the auditorium, it is discovered, a crazed zealot has inflamed the minds of the other passengers on board. They have tied up the mercenaries and relieved them of there weapons. They are also attempting to do the same to the group.
Whether it is the charm that Dr. Vanderhorn exudes or just that the crazed passengers don’t see him, he is left alone as the rest of the party try to stop a horrific human sacrifice attempt. The passengers turn on the party and the crazed leader, enhanced by her zealotry press in all around.
Seeing no choice, Brett, the delivery man, who was bitten by a creature attempts to end the riot at all costs and tells the group to take whatever actions are necessary.
Seeing the crowd pressing forward, Dr. Vanderhorn, decides to thin them out using a grenade. It will take more then one to finally quell the zealous lady preaching of sins and looking for blood. However, the second grenade also takes the life of the esteemed package delivery man, Brett, just as his family is rushing out of hiding followed closely by the undead.
The family rushes to the side of their dead loved one. In the last seconds before the stage is overrun, Dr. Vanderhorn thinks, “What if Brett was immune to the disease?” He can only think about it breifly, as he must flee from the overwhelming crowd over ever increasing undead and the few remaining crazed passengers.
As the escape is made only two members of the group are still alive. Along with the mercenary leader and a few of his crew and the ever present head of security. When the mercenary leader turns on Kirkman and shoots him, he offers to help the two survivers get off the ship if the have no problems with him leading. They agree.
Just as the bargain is struck, a coast guard cutter screams in, smashing into the ship. Tossing everyone around the room. Triggers are pulled and only the two party members make it away from the room alive.
Escaping to the life boat deck, Dr. Vander horn dives over the railing into the water 60 feet below, because of sheer luck and all the time spent with activities trying to keep his mind off of his past, he survives the long descent. Dr. Vanderhorn saves his friend after he himself attempt a dive from the deck only to be knocked unconscious. Dr. Vanderhorn drag both of them to the cutter and boards the craft.
On the ship he mops up the infected crew, and revives his fallen friend. Piloting the vessel away from the wreckage, he decides to share why he jumped from the ship with no regard to his own life.
Dr. Vanderhorn’s child had been killed in front of him, his wife left him, his practice went down the drain and he had just been through the terrible outbreak on the ship. He wanted his life to end. As he was falling through the air, he saw his beautiful daughter smiling at him, and at that point wished to keep living.
When he saw his unconscious friend floating in the water he knew he must save him. He also discovered, he would do whatever needed to be done to help save the lives of any that remained un-bitten and possibly find a cure for those who were.